10 Best European Erotic Thriller Movies

Many Americans haven’t heard of the 10 best European erotic thriller movies. Unless they’re turned into Hollywood remakes, most receive short shrift in the U.S. But for anyone interested in a thriller from overseas, these ten films are the cream of the crop.

“The Girl” (Sweden-Italy, 1985) This European erotic thriller movie focuses on a lawyer who is propositioned by a 14-year old schoolgirl. She offers him sex in exchange for money. He takes her to a romantic villa in Italy. She turns out to be a serial killer and he then has to fight for his life.

“Swimming Pool” (France-England, 2003) As much of a psychological funhouse as it is a European erotic thriller movie, “Swimming Pool” is about an English writer seeking solitude at her publisher’s estate. While there, the publisher’s sexually-adventurous daughter shows up, and things get rocky between the two until the daughter’s male companion goes missing.

“Dot the I” (Spain, 2005) “Dot the I” is a story about a woman who is set up by her fiancé to be the subject in a snuff film with another man. Soon after, the fiancé admits to his devilish deeds and scorns them both as his movie becomes a success. Feeling burned, the woman and the actor plot to get revenge on the fiancé (now ex-fiancé) in a way that will really teach him a lesson.

“Bandaged” (Germany 2009) When an architect loses his wife, he grows more secluded, eventually locking himself and his daughter inside his sprawling mansion. The daughter attempts suicide but ends up horribly burned. The father devises a skin graft for her that looks like his dead wife. All the while, he hires a nurse with skeletons in her closet. The nurse and the daughter begin an affair that proves deadly.

“Nathalie” (France, 2003) This European erotic thriller movie is about a prostitute from Paris hired by an upper-middle-class wife to seduce her husband, hoping it will prove whether he’s been unfaithful to her. The prostitute goes to work, reporting every detail of their encounters. But soon a secret from the past rears its ugly head.

“Read My Lips” (France, 2001) This European erotic thriller movie is about a deaf secretary who hires an ex-convict from a temp agency to assist her office. When the secretary has a real estate deal swiped from underneath her, she blackmails the ex-con into helping her steal it back. As their relationship grows into something more serious, so does their conniving and thievery, eventually putting both their lives at risk.

“Husbands and Lovers” (Italy, 1992) An Italian married couple opens their marriage to other partners, with the husband seeing his wife during the week, and during the weekends she stays with her lover while the husband has his fill of prostitutes. After a while, however, the wife becomes enthralled with her lover’s violent tendencies, preferring him over the husband. This leads to the husband’s jealousy and he rushes in to confront the lover.

“O Fantasma” (Portugal, 2000) A Portuguese trash collector who works at night lives a lonely existence with few bonds and several non-committal liaisons. He becomes obsessed with a motorcyclist that he happens upon during his route one night. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word “stalker”, however, becoming obsessed as a violent nature he didn't know was in him emerges.

“The Underneath” (Poland, 2008) A writer travels, at his wife’s suggestion, to the home of her ex-boyfriend for a weekend getaway. Things go well at first until the ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend arrives. As flirtations increase, so does jealousy and resentment, leading to tension and suspense in this European erotic thriller movie.

“Next Door” (Norway, 2005) One of the best European erotic thriller movies to come out in a long time, “Next Door” tells the tale of John, a recently-dumped man who meets the two women living next door. As they toy with and seduce him, John begins to enter a dream world. He’s unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality, and wonders if the sweet seductresses are making him lose his mind.